Colorado K5 forum folks

lomodyj

lomodyj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Out in the Middle
Our buddy John Vaughn (HERC) was killed in Mosul the other day. He was a friend of mine in an internet sort of way. I was one of the first people to see the pics of his Jeepster rollover on Potato(e) Salad hill last year (yeah, it's the one in JP this month, again).

There is a thread on the K5 board about it, but I can't get the page to load (http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthread.php?p=481531). If one of you is able to get on the board (I'm guessing it's down cuz of to many hits). Could you screen capture or download the post and send it to me at galen(at)mantadiver(dot)com. Also, if the board comes up, try and find his post about the rollover. I want the two (now world famous) photo's that he led with...the before and after.

RIP HERC

Found this in his local paper
 
From the CO site

Loss of a CO4x4 Member
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I'm sure many of you know our dear friend and fellow CO4X4 member, John Shaw Vaughan or "Hurc". At 0700 this morning, his sister called me to say that he was killed in action yesterday (Wednesday) in Mosul, Iraq. Lt John Shaw Vaughan was in the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team based in Fairbanks, AK and he had just been in Iraq about a month, on the streets, where it's most dangerous. John was proud to be in the Army, and of his tour in Iraq. He was very positive about his work and the people there and was writing regularly, posting his pics on photobucket.com. I think he'd like his friends to share his photo album. When he graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, I gave him a plastic "Jimmy Neutron" in the jet for fun. Jimmy had made the run from Colorado, to Daytona, to the Artic Circle, and on to Iraq as seen in his album. John always could find fun in whatever he was doing and he brightened any place he went.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Hurc/Iraq/
From his letters, and when I last spoke with him about a week ago, things were fairly calm with few, random drive by pot shots from what he said were "few and far in-between" bad guys. I went up to Edwards, CO today to see his family and to offer what support I could. John and I were very close and he was like a son to me. We'd become friends through our love of Jeepsters and wheeling and had become like family over the past several years. John took the AVATAR pic on my CO4x4 ID when we last wheeled Holy Cross together.
John's family met with the Army reps today and will be flown back to the U.S. in the next few days. The actual day is still tenative. A small, private memorial service is planned for his family's home in Edwards, CO over the weekend (?) and the military funeral serices will be held after, in Florida, where John will most likely be laid to rest near his grandfather. The details are still not quite firm.
I hope you will all join me in prayer for him and his family. We're proud of his service and we are all better to have known John for his positive outlook, his great sense of humor, and seeing the good in everyone.
God Bless you, Lt. John. We will miss you.
 
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